shall surely rise again.1 ' Their innocency shall shine forth as the light, and their righteousness as the noon-day/ Ps. xxxvii. 6. Though the clouds may for a time obscure the shining forth of the sun, yet the sun will shine forth again as bright and glorious as ever : ' The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance,' Ps. cxii. 6. Though the mali- cious slanders and false accusations of wicked men may for a time cloud the names of the saints, yet those clouds shall vanish, and their names shall appear transparent and glorious. God will take that care of his people's good name, that the infamy, calumnies, and contumelies that are cast upon it shall not long stick. The Jews rolled a stone upon Christ to keep him down, that he might not rise again, but an angel quickly rolls away the stone, and in despite of his keepers, he rises in a glorious triumphant manner, Mat. xxviii. 2. So though the world may roll this stone and that of reproach and contempt upon the saints' good names, yet God will roll away all those stones ; and their names shall have a glorious resurrection in despite of men and devils. That God that hath always one hand to wipe away his children's tears from their eyes, that God hath always another hand to wipe off the dust that lies upon his children's names. Wronged innocency shall not long lie under a cloud. Dirt will not stick long upon marble nor statues of gold. Well ! Christians, remember this, the slanders and reproaches that are cast upon you, they are but badges of your innocency and glory : Job xxxi. 35, 36, ' If mine adversary should write a book against me : surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me/ All reproaches are pearls added to a Christian's crown. Hence Austin, Quisquis volens detrahit famce mew, nolens addit mercedi niece, he that willingly takes from me my good name, unwillingly adds to my reward ; and this Moses knew well enough, which made him pre- fer Christ's reproach before Pharaoh's crown, Heb. xi. 25, 26. That God that knows all his children by name will not suffer their names to be long buried under the ashes of reproach and scorn ; and therefore hold thy peace. The more the foot of pride and scorn tramples upon thy name for the present, the more splendent and radiant it will be, as the more men trample upon a figure graven in gold, the more lustrous they make it. Therefore lay thy hand upon thy mouth. But,
(7.) Seventhly, The Lord hath been a swift and a terrible witness against such that have falsely accused his children, and that have laded their names with scorn, reproach, and contempt, Isa. xli. 2 ; Jude 15. Ahab and Jezebel, that suborned false witness against Naboth, had their bloods licked up by dogs, 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22 ; 2 Kings ix. 30. Ama- ziah, who falsely accused the prophet Amos to the king, met with this message from the Lord : ' Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, thy , sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line ; thou shalt die in a polluted land,' Amos vii. 17. Haman, who falsely accused the Jews, was one day feasted with the king, and the next day made a feast for crows, Esth. vii. 10, ix. 10. The envious courtiers, who falsely accused Daniel, were devoured of lions, Dan. vi. 24. Let me give you a taste of the judgments of God upon such per- sons out of histories.
Caiaphas the high-priest, who gathered the council and suborned false 1 A reminiscence of Sibbes. Cf. Memoir, vol. i. pp. xxii, xxiii, and 30, 31. — G.
38-t THE MUTE CHRISTIAN [Ps. XXXIX. 0.
witnesses against the Lord Jesus, was shortly after put out of office, and one Jonathan substituted in his room, whereupon he killed himself. John Cooper, a godly man, being falsely accused in Queen Mary's days, by one Grimwood, shortly after the said Grimwood, being in perfect health, his bowels suddenly fell out of his body,and so he died miserably.1
Narcissus, a godly bishop of Jerusalem, was falsely accused by three men of many foul matters, who sealed up with oaths and imprecations their false testimonies; but shortly after that, one of them, with his whole family and substance, was burnt with fire ; another of them was stricken with a grievous disease, such as in his imprecation he had wished to himself; the third, terrified with the sight of God's judgment upon the former, became very penitent, and poured out the grief of his heart in such ahundance of tears, that thereby he became blind.2
A wicked wretch [Nicephorus], under Commodus the emperor, ac- cused Apollonius, a godly Christian, to the judges for certain grievous crimes, which, when he could not prove, he was adjudged to have his legs broken, according to an ancient law of the Romans.
Gregory Bradway falsely accused one Brook ; but shortly after, through terrors of conscience, he sought to cut his own throat, but being pre- vented, he fell mad.
I have read of Socrates's two false accusers, how that the one was trodden to death by the multitude, and the other was forced to avoid the like by a voluntary banishment. I might produce a multitude of other instances, but let these suffice, to evidence how swift and terrible a witness God hath been against those that have been false accusers of his people, and that have laded their precious names with scorn and reproach, the serious consideration of which should make the accused and reproached Christian to sit dumb and silent before the Lord.3
(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, God himself is daily reproached. Men tremble not to cast scorn and contempt upon God himself. Sometimes they charge the Lord that his ways are not equal, that it is a wrong way he goeth in, Ezek. xviii. 25, Jer. ii. 5, 6 ; sometimes they charge God with cruelty, ' My punishment is greater than I am able to bear,' Gen. iv. 13 ; sometimes they charge God with partiality and respect of persons, because here he strokes, and there he strikes ; here he lifts up, and there he casts down ; here he smiles, and there he frowns ; here he gives much, and there he gives nothing ; here he loves, and there he hates; here he prospers one, and there he blasts another: Mai. ii. 17, ' Where is the God of judgment?' i.e. nowhere ; either there is no God of judgment, or at least not a God of exact, precise, and impartial judg- ment, &c.4 Sometimes they charge God with unbountifulness; that he is a God that will set his people too hard work, too much work, but will pay them no wages, nor give them no reward : Mai. iii. 14- 'Ye have said, it is in vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' Sometimes they charge God that he is a hard master, and that he reaps where he hath not sown, aud gathers where he hath
1 [Foxe] Acts and Monuments. 2 Eusebius.